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1616Latest News from hrk.deTYPO3 - get.content.righthttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssWed, 14 Feb 2018 12:04:00 +0100Iran: Academic Ahmadreza Djalali facing death penalty - HRK President renews protesthttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/iran-academic-ahmadreza-djalali-facing-death-penalty-hrk-president-renews-protest-4311/
Iran's highest court has declined to review the death sentence issued against the academic Dr...In an open letter to the Iranian head of state, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the HRK President also appealed for Dr Djalali to receive immediate access to proper medical treatment. The academic’s health has evidently deteriorated significantly during his imprisonment. Hippler urged Iran to respect human rights, protect academic freedom and recognise the principles of the rule of law.

“There is no doubt that academic relations with Iran offer great potential. However, the guarantee of academic freedom and protection of human rights are fundamental prerequisites for cooperation,” Hippler said.

There have been sustained international protests against the arrest and sentencing of Dr Djalali. The HRK is supporting the call by the international network Scholars at Risk to send letters of support for Ahmadreza Djalali to the Iranian Government.

The HRK President has already made several appeals to the Iranian Government to release Ahmadreza Djalali. Djalali lives and works in Sweden, where he is employed at the Karolinska Institute. His arrest in Tehran occurred in April 2016 while he was attending a conference. ]]>Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:04:00 +0100HRK President on cooperation agreement: Strong foundation for progressive higher education policy despite some weak pointshttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/hrk-president-on-cooperation-agreement-strong-foundation-for-progressive-higher-education-policy-de/
“As far as the universities are concerned, there is a basis for moving forward now.” This was the...Hippler continued, “The willingness to systematically involve the Federal Government in the funding of the universities now marks an important and fundamental change in our higher education system. This would be an appropriate use of Article 91 b of the Basic Law, enacted in 2014, in order to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the universities.

“This is especially true in relation to the intention to make federal funding for the Higher Education Pact permanent – an indispensable requirement for safeguarding the adequate availability of study places and the quality of teaching. I would also like to draw attention to particularly positive aspects such as the initiative to strengthen professorships at universities of applied sciences, the plans for a national open access strategy, the support for the digitalisation of higher education infrastructure, the expression of commitment to the European universities that are to be created and the planned expansion of BAföG, the German Federal Training Assistance Act.”

But the HRK President also alluded to potential weak points in the agreement.

“The Quality of Teaching Pact has achieved good results. However, its planned “continuation in competition” must not mean that less federal funding is available to make the Higher Education Pact permanent or that elaborate new funding structures are imposed. It is also a pity that programme allowances for research projects are initially to remain at the present level of 22 per cent. We hope that the planned increase to 30 per cent will soon become binding.” Last of all, the universities take a very critical view of coalition plans to create new joint qualification formats for vocational and university education. “The universities value the accessibility of the education system highly,” Hippler said. “But that must not be allowed to result in the obliteration and devaluation of both these tried and tested pillars of the education system.” ]]>Wed, 07 Feb 2018 13:34:00 +0100HRK in Brussels: European Excellence Initiative – European Universitieshttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/hrk-in-brussels-european-excellence-initiative-european-universities-4292/
Do we need a European Excellence Initiative for universities, especially in the economically weaker...The representatives of German universities generally welcomed the interest of EU heads of government and the European Commission in creating strong university networks with the title ‘European Universities’. They expressed the view that universities, researchers and students would all benefit from such a strategic partnership.

Following the conference, HRK President Dr Horst Hippler said: “The university representatives expressed the unanimous view to the EU Commission that a European Universities concept must relate not to education alone but to the complete knowledge triangle of education, research and innovation.” He added that close cooperation between member states – represented in Germany by the federal government and federal states – and the Commission was necessary to promote successful strategic networking between universities in a bottom-up process. “It will take time to design this process effectively,” Hippler said. “The universities will contribute their share to making it a success. To achieve this, they must be more actively involved in the political process of developing the concept.”

The HRK is also stimulating discussion on this issue. At a public panel discussion with 150 participants, the HRK President said: “The German Rectors’ Conference and its Polish partner organisation KRASP have published a paper proposing an Excellence Initiative for universities in the EU member states. Today a great deal of support was expressed for the concept.”

The essential aspects of the concept are that each member country would choose whether or not to participate and then fund the initiative primarily from national funds and money from the EU structural funds. Quality measurement and funding recommendations could appropriately be handled by independent European funding organisations with funds from the excellence-focused EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This would allow states with a lower-performing innovation landscape, in particular, to objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of their national research systems and thus achieve more focused development and become more internationally competitive.]]>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 11:49:00 +0100HRK President on the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the awarding of study places in medicinehttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/hrk-president-on-the-decision-of-the-german-federal-constitutional-court-on-the-awarding-of-study-pl/
Following the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the awarding of study places..."The decision corresponds with our view expressed during the court hearing that the school leaving examination grade with corresponding state quotas is an appropriate selection criterion. This criterion may not be overshadowed by the location preference. In principle, selection by means of suitability criteria such as the top school leaving examination grade is thus confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

For the universities, the clarification of the Senate of the German Federal Constitutional Court that they are entitled to the concrete functional structure and focus of the suitability criteria is important. This will help to strengthen higher education profiling.

Limiting the waiting period is a reasonable step towards allowing candidates to plan ahead in a transparent and realistic manner. This will enable applicants to assess their prospects with more clarity.

Legislators at the federal state level have now been called upon to establish regulations in line with the constitution by 31 December 2019. They must face their heightened democratic legitimisation obligation for selection procedures with the utmost care and taking into account the expertise of the universities. The German Rectors' Conference will be actively involved in this process." ]]>Tue, 19 Dec 2017 15:35:00 +0100Iran: HRK President protests against death sentence for academic Djalalihttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/iran-hrk-president-protests-against-death-sentence-for-academic-djalali-4283/
After confirmation of the death sentence against academic Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, detained in Iran...In his letter, Professor Horst Hippler called for the immediate reversal of the death penalty, the unconditional release of the academic, and the dropping of all charges. Hippler urged Iran to comply with its international obligations to respect human rights, protect academic freedom and recognise the principles of the rule of law.

“The imposition of the death sentence on Dr Djalali is irreconcilable with our fundamental values and convictions,” Hippler said. “It likewise conflicts with international accords, to which Iran is also committed, such as the UN Convention on Human Rights.”

Immediately after the death sentence was imposed on Dr Ahmadreza Djalali on 21 October 2017, the HRK President appealed to the Iranian leadership in a letter criticising the judgement. The confirmation of the death sentence has now occurred after the state-appointed defence counsel did not lodge a further appeal. Djalali lives and works in Sweden, and was arrested during a visit to Tehran at the invitation of the university there.

The HRK is supporting calls by the international network Scholars at Risk and the European University Association (EUA) to send letters of support for Ahmadreza Djalali to the Iranian Government.]]>InternationalesFri, 15 Dec 2017 09:34:00 +0100Turkey: HRK President criticises trials of academicshttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/turkey-hrk-president-criticises-trials-of-academics-4275/
In an open letter to the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Justice Minister Abdulhamit...In his letter, Hippler calls for the principles of the rule of law to be observed, and points to the fundamental importance of academic freedom and free speech. “Universities are places where free speech prevails,” the HRK President said. “The current wave of prosecutions against the signatories to the petition entitled 'We will not be a party to this crime!' is in contravention of any understanding of fundamental democratic principles. The ongoing repression of members of universities in Turkey constitutes a denial of academic freedom.”

Relationships between universities in Turkey and Germany are traditionally particularly close. The HRK President has previously spoken out repeatedly on the threat to academic freedom in Turkey, expressing his solidarity with university members who have been subjected to state repression. [Link]

The trials beginning in Turkey over the coming days target the signatories to the petition “We will not be a party to this crime”. In the appeal published in January 2016, academics demanded an end to military intervention in the Kurdish regions of Turkey, and called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The international network Scholars at Risk is currently appealing to universities to send letters of support to the Turkish government. ]]>InternationalesThu, 07 Dec 2017 15:20:00 +0100The rare disciplines: HRK and KMK determined to facilitate survival and further developmenthttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/the-rare-disciplines-hrk-and-kmk-determined-to-facilitate-survival-and-further-development-4295/
In a meeting, the Executive Boards of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and...The rare disciplines are essential for the preservation of relevant, subject-specific competences, contribute to the preservation of our cultural heritage and facilitate the international profiling and networking of German universities. With this in mind, the Office for Research on Rare Disciplines at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate’s Ministry for Education, Science, Continuing Education and Culture, has set out to observe and analyse the development of the rare disciplines.

The states and the universities represented in the HRK aim to retain the Office and also to call upon the expertise and experience in other states, gained for example as part of the Baden-Württemberg Science Ministry’s “Rare Disciplines” initiative, when making decisions in relation to the rare disciplines.The HRK and KMK are also introducing the theme in the European arena. The HRK has been conducting discussions to this end for some time, which demonstrate that interest also exists on the part of individual countries, such as France and Poland, in addressing the matter. A cross-border perspective would then be possible, and could help to create synergies.

The KMK President and Baden Württemberg's Minister for Education, Cul-ture, Youth and Sport, Dr Susanne Eisenmann, said: “The rare disciplines at German universities are a core component of higher education. Their survival, and hence the preservation of our culture, is of great importance to the states and the universities represented in the HRK. We therefore declare our support for facilitating the further development of these disciplines – many of which are world-renowned – and hence for preserving the richness of disciplines in the German academic system.”

HRK President Prof Dr Horst Hippler noted: “Diversity is an important fea-ture and a great strength of the German higher education landscape. The rare disciplines make a great contribution to that diversity. It is important, therefore, that the states and the universities represented in the HRK pull together to safeguard them. We have been lobbying for years for the scope of these disciplines to be recorded, and for them to be preserved through smart structural measures that also secure the next generation of re-searchers. It is a mistake to brush aside rare disciplines as “exotic”. They are important pieces of a valuable mosaic. Currently there is extraordinary demand, for example, for input from Islamic Studies – a discipline that barely gained any public attention for many years.”

Joint Statement of the Executive Boards of the German Rectors’ Con-ference and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany on the situation of rare disciplines.

Contacts:

Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK)Press Officer: Torsten HeilTel.: +49 (0) 30 25418-462Mob.: +49 (0) 172 139 21 20torsten.heil@kmk.orgwww.kmk.org

German Rectors' Conference (HRK) Deputy press officer: Ralf KellershohnTel.: +49 (0) 30 20 62 92 27Mob.: +49 (0)160 96 98 53 19kellershohn@hrk.de www.hrk.de ]]>Thu, 07 Dec 2017 12:06:00 +0100New HRK data: Further slight reduction in admission restrictionshttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/new-hrk-data-further-slight-reduction-in-admission-restrictions-4274/
Despite the new record number of students, admission restrictions at German universities have once...For the current 2017/2018 winter semester, admission restrictions applied to 44.2 per cent of the more than 10,000 undergraduate courses on offer. This figure is down from the previous year's 45.2 per cent. The result means that the universities have managed to continue the trend of recent years.

Hamburg once again had the highest percentage of admission restrictions, at 73 per cent, although this figure had actually fallen compared with the previous winter semester (75.2 per cent). Saarland was in second place, at 64.7, which in fact signified an increase of 2.7 per cent. Thuringia has the most favourable ratio by far, at 13.6 per cent (compared to 11.4 per cent).

The proportion of course options leading to a bachelor's or master's qualification stabilised at over 91 per cent. The remainder mainly fall into the categories of state or church qualifications.

The proportion of graduates who are awarded a bachelor’s or master's degree is continually increasing. According to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office, the figure for the 2016 academic year was 80.9 per cent.

The HRK publication “Statistical Data on Study Opportunities at Universities in Germany – Winter Semester 2017/2018” (available only in German) contains comprehensive data on many aspects of studying in Germany. It was based on information entered by universities in the HRK database www.hochschulkompass.de/en about their degree programmes as at 1 September, and also additional statistical material.

The publication is available online at www.hrk.de. The print version was published as part of the HRK series "Statistiken zur Hochschulpolitik" (Statistics on Higher Education Policy), and can be ordered free of charge from: publikationen@hrk.de.]]>PublikationMon, 04 Dec 2017 16:48:00 +0100German Future Prize 2017: winner from the University of Hanoverhttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/german-future-prize-2017-winner-from-the-university-of-hanover-4270/
Prof Dr-Ing. Sami Haddadin from Leibniz University Hanover and his partners Dr med. Simon Haddadin...“The HRK congratulates Mr Haddadin and his colleagues on this tremendous success,” says HRK President Prof Dr Horst Hippler. “The fact that this outstanding and award-winning technology was largely developed at a university demonstrates the central importance of universities in the German innovation system.”

He continues: “The innovation developed by the prize recipients has the potential to revolutionise robotics and therefore impact on many areas of society in the era of Industry 4.0. From highly automated production in the automotive industry to the care of elderly people at home, these new robot assistants have a host of potential applications.”

The German Future Prize, the Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation, is awarded annually and is worth €250,000. The HRK is one of 19 organisations entitled to put forward nominations. The recipients are selected by an independent jury.

For more information about the project, visit www.deutscher-zukunftspreis.de/en ]]>ForschungThu, 30 Nov 2017 14:54:00 +0100EU funding boost for student mobility and research - HRK President: Higher level of funding must continuehttps://www.hrk.de/press/press-releases/press-release/meldung/eu-funding-boost-for-student-mobility-and-research-hrk-president-higher-level-of-funding-must-con/
Today the European Parliament in Brussels approved the EU budget for 2018. In July the Council of...HRK President Professor Horst Hippler commented in Berlin today:

“This is a very welcome turnaround. After years of cuts, decision-makers now seem to be realising the importance of education, research and innovation to European competitiveness and social cohesion.

That is precisely why we can’t afford to rest on our laurels. Brexit and the reorientation of the EU financial framework are just around the corner. The EU’s flagship programmes, Erasmus+ for student exchange and Horizon 2020 for research and innovation, still receive only a small portion of the EU’s total budget. This fails to reflect their importance for the future of Europe. These programmes must be further strengthened, even if the EU budget is likely to become tighter.

The European Commission is pointing the way forward by calling for a substantial increase in funding for these areas, including a doubling of Erasmus+ funding. The German government in the European Council and the European Parliament must measure their future success by these ambitious targets.”]]>HochschulsystemThu, 30 Nov 2017 14:26:00 +0100